Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog
Prescription errors are all too common in the United States. Pharmacists and doctors are human, and like everyone else they make mistakes. Unfortunately, these errors can have devastating effects on Maryland patients. In the event of a prescription error, a patient or family member may be able to bring a claim to recover compensation for the patient’s injuries and to hold the person or entity responsible.
A patient or family member may be able to bring a medical malpractice claim, or another claim against the responsible medical professional. In a medical malpractice case, a plaintiff must show that the defendant failed to meet the requisite standard of care, or the standard the medical professional should have met in the same or similar situation.
Medical malpractice prescription error cases usually involve complex medical conditions and confusing medical records, and retaining an experienced attorney is essential. In a medical malpractice claim, a plaintiff must show that a defendant acted negligently or failed to take the appropriate actions. A plaintiff must prove four elements: the defendant had a legal duty, the defendant failed to perform that duty, the plaintiff suffered injuries, and causation between the defendant’s conduct and the plaintiff’s injuries.
New Program Aims to Address Prescription Error Threat
Every year, about four billion prescriptions are filled in the United States. Shockingly, four to eight million of those prescriptions dispensed will potentially involve life-threatening errors, according to one recent news report. Prescription errors can occur as a result of any number of mistakes, including a typo, filling a prescription with the wrong drug, filling the incorrect dosage, or giving a prescription to the wrong patient. These errors can have serious effects on patients. In some cases, a prescription may not be safe for a patient because the patient’s condition changed or if they are taking new or different medication.
Adverse drug effects, as known as ADEs, are unique to each patient and their clinical status. More than sixty percent of medication-related problems are the result of ADEs. One program uses technology to generate models of normal prescribing patterns of a physician, an institution, and a patient, to determine if there are outlier prescriptions that be signal a prescription error. It is based on a technology used by credit card companies to alert customers of unusual purchase patterns. The program is not yet widely implemented, but it is hoped that it will reduce the number of prescription errors throughout the U.S.
Contact Lebowitz & Mzhen Personal Injury Attorneys
If you or a loved one has been the victim of a prescription error, contact an experienced personal injury attorney today. The attorneys at Lebowitz & Mzhen can assist victims to evaluate their claim and provide help with bringing a lawsuit against the responsible parties. The personal injury lawyers at Lebowitz & Mzhen have over twenty years experience litigating cases related to prescription errors and pharmacy misfills in the Baltimore and Washington, D.C. area. If you or a loved one has been the victim of a prescription error, contact Lebowitz & Mzhen on our website, or by calling 1-800-654-1949 for a free consultation.
More Blog Posts:
More People Are Getting Flu Shots in Alternative Settings Across Maryland and the Rest of the US, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, November 8, 2018.
Experts Warn Against Physicians Texting Prescriptions to Pharmacies, Pharmacy Error Injury Lawyer Blog, October 1, 2018.